Courting Misfortune By Regina Jennings

Courting Misfortune

by Regina Jennings

Publisher: Bethany House

Series: The Joplin Chronicles

ISBN: 9780764235344

I was excited to be on Regina's launch team for her newest series! I've enjoyed her books in the past and couldn't wait to dive into Courting Misfortune which was sent to be since I was on the team!

Summary:

Her trickiest case depends on keeping her motives--and her heart--in disguise.

Calista York needs one more successful case as a Pinkerton operative to secure her job at the agency. When she's assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of a mob boss, she's sent to the rowdy mining town of Joplin, Missouri. With extended family in the area, Calista must conceal her profession if she hopes to recover the missing girl. 

When Matthew Cook decided to be a missionary, he never expected to be sent only a short train ride away to Joplin. While fighting against corruption of all sorts, Matthew hears of a baby raffle being held to raise funds for a children's home. He'll do what he can to stop it, but he also wants to stop the reckless Miss York, whose bad judgment consistently puts her in harm's way. 

Calista doesn't need the handsome pastor and her nosy family interfering with her investigation, no matter their intentions. A girl's life depends on her. If she doesn't find Lila Seaton soon, the constant meddling could have dire consequences.

My Review:

Ok, so I'll be honest here. I'm one of those people who sometimes doesn't catch on right away. lol What that means is, I've been introduced to Calista before! In Serving Up Love, Regina's novella "Intrigue a la Mode" we meet Calista. It was when I was about halfway through Courting Misfortune that I realized the connection. hahahaha

That being said, let's get started with my actual review.

I liked Calista because she's such a determined young lady. Those are the kind of women I like in the stories I read. She wanted to be one of the first women Pinkertons. Getting brought back to where she grew up visiting her grandma and rest of the family, she's not able to stay under the radar as much as she'd like. As much as a Pinkerton needs. Oh my gosh, it was so funny reading how she kept trying to get out of slippery situations with people because she didn't want to seem "obvious" in her job. One of the funniest times is when she's pretending to be a nurse and her "skills" are put to the test! HA!

And then we are introduced to Matthew Cook. He was a pretty likable character who really seemed like the kind of guy who thought he could help save all of Joplin from their wayward behaviors. Unfortunately, he has a "pie in the sky" vision and when it doesn't come to fruition in a rather quicker and easier way discourages him. He does begin to make inroads one person at a time, and truly, isn't that they way things work usually? Calista is his greatest challenge and he can't figure out what is going on with that odd woman. One of the issues I had with him though, was his deep concern about how deceptive Calista is and how he constantly questions her character, but in the next instance he was attracted to her. That didn't make sense to me.

Of course I can't leave out Calista's family in general. Her cousins would make any sane person crazy. Those two have a knack for showing up when they're not needed nor wanted, much to poor Calista's dismay. They tend to wreak havoc, albeit unintentionally, wherever they go.

It was fun having Willow and Graham show up in the book. It was actually a bit of relief - probably for me AND Calista. Sure was nice to have other people who knew that she was working undercover and to give her some support. And their Granny was pretty great, too. What a fun character!

I'm definitely wondering what book 2 might be about. Will it stick with Calista's family or move on to someone else? I couldn't tell by the way the book ended so I'm super curious for the next one!

About the Author:

Regina Jennings (www.reginajennings.com) is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University with a degree in English and a minor in history. She's the winner of the National Readers' Choice Award, a two-time Golden Quill finalist and a finalist for the Oklahoma Book of the Year Award. Regina has worked at the Mustang Newsand at First Baptist Church of Mustang, along with time at the Oklahoma National Stockyards and various livestock shows. She lives outside of Oklahoma City with her husband and four children.